Thursday, September 8, 2011

I found a bag of Heath® toffee bits in my baking cabinet nearing its expiration date. I was saving the bag for a special recipe, but for a long time no recipe seemed good enough for the toffee bits. They're quite picky, you see. One of my friends recently made me a batch of toffee brownies, which her boyfriend hated, which meant more for me :D and they were amazing. I decided to have my own go at toffee brownies. Adding the toffee bits to brownie-batter will make your brownies look like this:

Okay, well you can hardly see the toffee bits once the brownies are baked. Presumably they're melted. Or disappeared. Or eaten (not me!). But they do give the brownies a toffee-colored surface that gently cracks when you cut them. Out of the oven came the world's most perfect brownies. Not too cakey, not too fudgy, yet full-on chocolate and toffee. And this all coming from "not-really-a-brownie-person". Rating: 5 out of 5.

Instructions:- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a square 9 x 9 brownie pan. Dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.- Put chocolate, butter, and 1½ tablespoon sugar in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; whisk occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat, and let stand until cool and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Process eggs and remaining tablespoon sugar in a food processor until pale and doubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into egg mixture; pulse to combine. Add chocolate mixture ¼ cup at a time; pulse each addition until combined, about 10 times. (Batter will be thick.) Stir in toffee bits.- Spoon mixture into the prepared brownie pan. Bake until top are springy to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes (they might need a bit longer, check with a cake tester). Let cool to room temperature.

Brownie Tic-Tac-Toe! Who's playing with me?The winner gets one brownie. Yes, just one.